Preview: Southend Under-23s

Edu Rubio’s side travel to Southend United’s Boots and Laces Training Ground this afternoon as they look to extend their unbeaten streak to five games.

The Under-23s made the journey to Essex as recently as a month ago, however, this time they’ll face the Shrimpers in the Central Development League.

The Dons currently sit second in the South East Central League, meanwhile, Southend occupy fourth place in the same division.

Kick-off is at 1.00pm.

Southend Under-23s currently sit bottom of the South East Central League and will face MK Dons for the fourth time this season.

Dons are yet to lose to Southend having recorded a 5-4 win back in September with the two latest meetings ending 0-0 and 1-1 respectively.

They faced Forest Green Rovers in early February drawing 0-0 with Forest.

The Under-23s last fixture actually came against Southend as the two faced each other on January 30th. Brandon Thomas-Asante opened the scoring for Rubio’s side that day, as the academy graduate found the back of the net from range in the 1-1 draw.

Amadou Ba converted from close range for Southend to ensure that on the day – the points were shared.

On Saturday, Oran Jackson was named as a substitute as Ethan Ebanks-Landell missed the Charlton defeat due to suspension. He’s once again expected to be involved with the first-team due to Ebanks-Landell serving the second match of his ban.

Elsewhere, Dylan Asonganyi is still unavailable due to injury while Finn Tapp will be looking to captain the Under-23s in Jackson’s absence. Ben Tilney will also be hoping to get some minutes under his belt on Tuesday.

Both Hugo Logan and Sam Nombe are able to play in the Central League tie due to their respective youth loans allowing them to do so.

Supporters wishing to stay in touch with the Dons Under-23s can do so via the Club’s Twitter page from 1.00pm.

A full match report will be available to view on mkdons.com straight after the final whistle.